All in cup of tea
by Opaul
Summary: Older Kataang. "...We had a fight didn't speak for three weeks. When we did she said she met someone else..." So the tea lady is a little crazy.


I'm among the greatest of kataang fans and I thought I would cry in some parts as I wrote this

**I regret noting. And I don't own avatar. If I did there would be a season four and kataang babies running everywhere XD**

I'd never been this excited and this bored ate the same time, never. Mom had finally let me manage our little teashop on a shift when she wasn't there. I'd convinced her that with her ailing health it would be silly for her to struggle all the way down stairs just to sit in a hard chair for a couple hours.

I love this place, its dim light and dark wooden tables. Splashes of green black and gold in the carvings on the walls, my father had been a carver. My parents had opened the shop a month or two before his accident. The shop was out of the way so on most days only locals showed up. And the locals on this side of this small town were mainly old women, who came to gossip and old men who came to play Pai Sho. Outsiders were few and far between.

Well this day wasn't much different. With me, behind the counter reading a book and waiting for a real customer. Miss Catige sat in the corner, sipping tea staring out the window at the rain, just as she did every week. Slow times are so boring; the silence was nice, though, save for some wild sparrowjays. Suddenly, the jingle of bells Mom tied to the doorknob tinkled a man in a black cloak walked in. He swung his arm around his head, bending the water off of himself. A waterbender, I smiled, finally a fresh face.

He removed his hood and looked around. He was bald and had a blue arrow on his head. Momma was not going to believe this.

"Can I get you anything sir?"

He dropped three copper pieces quietly on the counter, "What kinda tea you have here?" he asked, pulling up a stool.

He had dark circles under his eyes and his mouth was sullen.

"Green, jasmine, ginseng, leeche, maybe some black in the back if I look extra hard, but who knows how long its been back there," I hand him little white cup with tiny green roses on it.

"Black sounds good."

"So what brings you to these parts?" I ask, ignoring mother's warning not to be nosy.

"Different things," he just stares down into the empty cup.

I pour the tealeaves in the kettle on the stove behind us, "I've always heard you were a lot perkier."

He sighed, "Things change."

"Well word doesn't spread fast around here, which is surprising considering how people gossip."

The kettle hissed. I poured him some tea and placed a mint leave in it.

"Mint for luck," I said.

The avatar almost smiled.

"So what kind of this bring you to the middle of the river grass plains, not exactly a vacation spot nothing but long grass and rain. But I suppose it's a perfect place to get away from the world for awhile."

"You certainly like to talk don't you?"

I shrugged, "I suppose," and I spun around to turn down the stove and pour myself a cup, "You still didn't answer my question."

The man sighed again, his whole body moving in a slow tired motion. His gray eyes had an old sorrow in them. They were dark and shining. Beautiful if you ask me.

"I did come here to get away for awhile."

I took a sip of my tea and smile looking directly into those eyes, "Tell me what sorrow you hide behind them," I ask.

"Hide behind what?" he asked, perplexed.

"Your eyes, silly."

"Oh," he furrowed his brow.

"Well…look, I'm not going to judge you. I have my fair share of regrets and mistakes in my short life."

He shook his head, "How old are you?" he asked.

"14."

"That's how hold she was when I fell in love with her."

I poured us some more tea.

"Need anything Miss Catige?" I asked. She shook her head no and continued staring.

The avatar continued, "She was everything I wanted. Everything I needed; I would have given anything for her. When I was battling between the power of the avatar state and her, she almost won. I loved her more than anything; I thought she loved me back. And I guess she did for awhile..."

"But?"

"We had a fight, a pretty bad one we didn't speak for a three weeks, and after we did start speaking again she told me she met someone else," tears were in his eyes and he was trying his hardest to keep them there, "And some time, a month later he said he was going to propose to her. I just couldn't watch her marry someone else, so…I left. That was seven months ago."

"How do you know she said yes?"

"I remember the look in her eyes, whenever she saw him, and the look he gave her. She never gave that look to anyone else, not even me. Trust me, she said yes."

I looked down into the black tealeaves in the shadowy bottom of my white cup, "Didn't you ever try to win her back?"

"No, that's more than I can handle. She just looked so happy. Happy without me. Happier easier life without the avatar as a husband," he blinked back the tears staring into the little empty cup. The leaves cluttered the bottom.

"They look like ashes in a little puddle of tears, don't they?" I asked, my head tilted down, looking into the porcelain.

He scrunched up his brow a little and peered into his cup, "They do..."

"Now, what about you?"

"Me…" I shrugged, "I was born in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, back when my parents still lived there. When I was six, I was sent to live with my grandmother so I could learn 'morals.' They wanted me to learn the art of tea making from her cause she hated my mom and wouldn't tell her the art. Tea making was a family secret and all. My parents weren't to bad off or anything, so it wasn't because they couldn't feed me. They lied to my grandmother said we were. We were poor but we weren't starving. My grandmother was a traveling gypsy in her days, and the word poor would exactly cover how she lives. When I was sent to stay with her, she lived in small shack in the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere. She didn't work, and all she did was boil herbs and grow them. Turns out, she was a master; and more than that, learned the art of healing and potion making too, in her travels. Unfortunately, there was hardly anything in the house other than tealeaves. I remember eating mud some days just to get something in my stomach. When I was eleven, I moved back with my parents who'd already moved out here. My father did odd jobs while we worked on opening this place. We did a year later. Then my father died when he fell of a roof into a river. Also, I have five stillborn brothers and sisters and my 17-year-old sister lives in Ba Sing Se, working as a prostitute and hasn't spoken to us in over a year."

"Wow you do like to talk."

"Yep."

"I'm sorry."

"About what?" I ask.

"Your life."

"Not really," I smiled, "Wasn't that all bad. Just took one day at a time. But you know what's really funny is no matter what happened or who died, I never could cry. And I'm not sure why."

"I haven't cried since I left and I was too afraid before I did. It hurts doesn't it?" Aang said, "But in a weird way, not being to cry," he paused listening to lightning crack, "Some days I feel like my skin is the only thing keeping me from going everywhere and disappearing."

"Yeah…" I replied, the pounding of the rain on the roof stopping what I was going to say next.

"I should probably get going," he said reaching for his staff.

"Good luck finding shelter out there." I say as he stopped mid reach, "We have an extra room in the basement. We were renting out, but right now its just gathering dust. You can stay there tonight; the weather should be better by tomorrow."

"But I can't pay you, and won't your parents mind?"

"Well, my dad's worm food. And my mom has been sick and bed ridden for a year. Not that she'll care," I smiled and motioned him follow me through the back room.

"But what if someone else comes along and wants to rent it?"

I smirked, "If it makes you feel better, if anyone else shows up, I'll kick you out."

He followed me down the back stairs to the basement. The room was small but at least it was dry.

I lit a candle, "There's a bed, and a night table. And I'll bring you something to eat later."

The sun seeped onto the earth today only through holes in the gray clouds. I had a foreboding feeling in my stomach. Thanks to a little herb I gave Aang in his tea, he was still asleep. Loss interrupts the dreams. The things my grandmother gave me I still carry with me, I smiled. My heart throbbed missing her. I just scrubbed the table I was cleaning a little harder. It was going to rain again; you could smell it in the thick air.

Mr. Lee and Mr. Lee played Pai Sho in a corner by the window, a sibling rivalry if I ever saw one. At least they were quiet. Most of the noisy old women liked to gather here tomorrow to gossip.

And the bells on the door jingled. These people weren't locals either. A short girl with a bun of black hair, in a green long sleeve shirt, her skin pale and a boy with tan skin wearing a blue tunic and pony tail. Travelers.

"May I help you?" I asked.

The boy turned, he looked about 20. The girl a few years younger, "Come on Toph maybe this girl can help us," he whispered.

"We're looking for two people; a guy with a bald head and blue arrow tattoos, and a girl with tan skin blue eyes and she's-"

The girl interrupted, "Know anybody fitting those descriptions?"

"Pull up a stool, information costs a cup of tea," I grinned. Well at least I followed one of Momma's rules.

Reluctantly he sat down and offered a silver piece, the girl followed him, "Two cups of tea please."

"What kind?"

"Jasmine," the girl spoke up.

She lifted her head, some of her bangs falling from her face. Her eyes were the murky shade of lima beans.

"You're blind."

"I've noticed. What of it?"

"Nothing really."

_"This is a very important plant," my grandmother said placing the midnight blue little leaf in my hand, "It's very important because it can do three things, cures the blemishes, helps those born blind and deaf, and eases the pain of those who have lost the ability to live. In other words, suicidal depression._

I put the kettle on.

"Do we really have to wait for that to boil?" the man droned.

"If the water doesn't boil than your heart won't either."

He rolled his eyes at my old wives tales.

"What he's trying to say is we're in a hurry," the girl said.

I smiled as I walked through the gateway to the storeroom, plucking from a shelf, a bag of jasmine and another of leaves of something I've saved since I was a little barefoot girl running around in herb gardens.

"Here you go," I say handing them each an ocean blue cup, "Do you two have names?"

The girl answered, "Toph and Sokka."

I nodded, "You're looking for the avatar. First, I want to know why."

"We're old friends. And he ran off when my sister broke his heart. We're just trying to find him and have been for the last couple months. Happy?" Sokka replied.

I shrugged, "Did she say yes, when the other man proposed?"

"Well sort of…." Toph answered.

"She's obliviously talked to him," the ponytail guy whispered in her ear, but there was something else in her voice and in his eyes.

I took a deep breath, "So when's the baby due?"

Nearly dropping their cups, and wide-eyed they yelled, "How did you know that?!"

I smirked, "I know things."

"Any day now," the girl answered lowering her head.

"Then I can't tell you where he is. His hearts in enough pieces. Let's not stomp on them more."

"What about the girl? Seen her?" the man questioned, "We've been on her tail for the last few days."

"No I haven't seen her. Why'd she run away?"

The boy grumbled, "It's complicated."

The bells would jingle by a new visitor tomorrow; I could see it in my head. The rain was lightening.

"Come back the day after tomorrow I'll be able to help you then," I said.

"Kay sure, but what's so special about the day after tomorrow? Why can't you just tell us now?!" Toph demanded.

"Yeah why can't you just tell us now?" Sokka challenged.

"Because I won't know until the day after tomorrow."

At that both of the travelers got up and stalked out.

"Well that crazed lunatic was no help," I heard one of them whisper.

I hummed a little tune to myself as the sunset. I had an odd feeling about tomorrow a good feeling but an odd one.

The sun came up in shades of gray today storming still, not the best of signs. I'm up early, as always, sweeping the floor and cooking stew for supper tonight. Warm stew always had a soft spot for me on cold rainy days. Hope I got the recipe right.

It was noon before the rain let up just enough time to turn the streets into mush. I'd managed to convince Avatar Aang to stay another night. The bells sang their quiet twitter as a hand pushed them softly. It was the girl her hair tied back into a ponytail and her blue robe was pulling in places where her abdomen has swollen more.

"Hello Ma'am, can I get you anything?"

"I'm sorry but I don't have any money. Can you tell me have you seen a man with blue arrow tattoos, and a baldhead? He's pretty tall and has gray eyes."

So I'm right.

"It's raining pretty hard out there," I say, ignoring her question, "You must be cold. Not to mention tired considering your condition. Come pull up a stool. A cup of tea will fix that," I step back behind the counter to turn the heat up for the tea water.

"I already told you I don't have any money," she tells me again.

"Come sit down I think we can arrange something. Sit," I command pointing at the stool.

She reluctantly accepts.

"Now, what brings you to these parts?"

"I already told you," she says, "I'm looking for a man he-"

I cut her off, "I know, but why are you looking for him."

"Because I need to find him because I…."

"Continue. Whatever it is that's bottled up inside you, it's going to come out of you eventually. I can already see it seeping. Might as well get it out now while I can still help you, before you crack."

Her big blue eyes gaze out at me in a horrified wonder. "How do you know all this?" the woman asks.

"I know things. My grandmother taught me how to read the world. Now, tell me your story, I'm all ears."

She takes a deep silent breath. "I wronged him so much. I love him. We got in a fight and we didn't talk for a while. I was so angry with him. I wasn't really though, I think, I just wanted to be angry at him let my pride in the way. I didn't want to forget him. And one day I met someone else. He was nice and good looking and all. I convinced myself I loved him and after about a month, he proposed. I came very close to saying yes. I think I did in a way."

"Why didn't you marry him?" I ask.

"Because I woke up one morning and Aang was gone. And didn't he matter anymore. I left Kamer a note of declination saying I was sorry for playing with his heart. I was gone by noon. All I had in my heart was Aang. You see, I have to find him and apologize. I don't think I can go on without him…" her eyes are pleading.

"What about the baby? Whose baby is it? The lover or the Avatar's?"

"How did you know he was the Avatar?"

"Answer my question."

"It's Aang's."

I grip the edge of the counter hard, "I have another question for you. Did go looking for the Avatar because he's the father of your child and you don't want him to be a bastard, or did you go looking for him because you truly care for him?"

"I swear!" The woman screamed, "I would have come anyways. I didn't know I was pregnant until after I left!"

"I don't believe you," I forced an angry frown onto my face. I did believe her but I needed more proof. I need her to be sure.

"Please, I need to find him. Just tell me where he is. I KNOW YOU KNOW!"

"Shhhhh…" I tell her, "No need to get you feathers in a ruff. You'll wake my mother. Now, what kind of tea do you want?"

Katara just stared at me bewildered, "I already told you I don't have any money," she is furious now.

"And I said something could be arranged," I motion to a broom in the corner, "You can sweep can't you? Sweep up the basement; don't worry its not too incredibly dirty. It just needs to be swept, cleanliness and all. Do that, and I'll give you a free cup of tea, kay?"

She nods still eyeing me  
funny.  
I hand her the broom and motion her to follow me through the back room and down the dim stair well. The basement really isn't all that big, about the size of a normal bedroom; with some bags of flour, seeds, and other things stacked in overflowing piles.

"Make sure you get in the extra room too. Don't worry, though, it doesn't have to be perfect it's just a basement," I scurry quickly to the top of the stairs.

I sit for about 10 minutes waiting and listening. Click, as she slowly turns the doorknob to the extra room.

"AANG!" I smile as I listen to her loud sobs.

"Katara what are you doing here?!"

"Looking for you."

"Why? What about him?"

"Cause I love you and I'm sorry so, so sorry."

Silence for one moment; two, three…I creep quietly down the creaky stairs.

"Katara, whose baby is that?" I lean against the doorframe. Mother always said I eavesdrop too much.

"Yours," she answers, tears streaking down her face.

Aang is sitting down on the bed head in his hands. "What about him?"

"He and I have gone our separate ways."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm still in love with you. And I want to be with you."

Silence.

"I'm sorry I left."

"I understand why you left," Katara says sitting down beside him.

"You must think I'm a coward."

Katara sighed, "In this case I think we're both cowards."

"Ahhhh," I say, "They say misery loves company. I guess cowardice is the same. Now, why don't you come back upstairs? The kettle's about to go off."

"How do you know that?" Aang utters, "Any of it! About me and Katara!"

Just then the kettle goes off. I turn to leave-

"I know things."

**Please review PLEASE!**

**Btw I'm taking requests.**


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